The biggest upset at Toronto Masters happened on Thursday after 15th-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated top-ranked and number one seed Novak Djokovic in the third round of this ATP 1000 event. Tsonga won 6-2, 6-2 against the Serbian.
“For me today it was great,” said Tsonga. “I played a good match. Soon in the match I was in good condition. I served pretty well, I was pretty aggressive.
This is Tsonga’s third career victory over a reigning world number one. The Frenchman is aiming to improve on his past two semifinal outings at this event in 2009 and 2011.
“I’m working hard every day. It’s not every day you get the rewards of what you’re doing every day during the year. You leave your family, practise hard, suffer a lot on the court. And when you win a match like this, you just feel good,” Tsonga said.
Tsonga will next face Andy Murray in the quarterfinals on Friday after the latter advanced without playing. Murray’s opponent Richard Gasquet of France pulled out due to abdominal issues. Murray has a 9-1 series lead over Tsonga with their recent meeting taking place in Miami earlier this year with Murray winning.
“Congratulations to Jo,” Djokovic said after the match. “He played some great tennis. Served very well. He was obviously the better player on the court. I hadn’t played even close to what I intended before going to the court. Just nothing was going. No baseline, no serve, no return. Generally a very bad day, very poor performance. Couldn’t do much.”
